BOOK REVIEW: TWO STATES!

2 State is a Story of My Marriage is partly autobiographical. The story is about a couple, Krish and Ananya, who hail from two different states of India, Punjab and Tamil Nadu respectively, are deeply in love and want to get married.

The story begins in the IIM Ahmedabad mess hall, where Krish, a Punjabi boy from Delhi sights a beautiful girl, Ananya, a Tamilian from Chennai, quarreling with the mess staff about the food. Ananya was tagged as the “Best girl of the fresher batch”. They become friends within a few days and decide to study together every night. In the mean time, they become romantically involved. They both get jobs, and have serious plans for their wedding. At first Krish tries to convince his girlfriend Ananya’s parents and at last convinces them by helping Ananya’s father to do his first PowerPoint Presentation, her brother, Manju, by giving him IIT tuition and later convinces her mom by asking her to sing in a concert organised by Krish’s office, i.e. CitiBank (Yes bank in the adapted film). She is convinced as her biggest dream of singing at a big concert comes true. She sings along with S. P. Balasubrahmaniam and Hariharan. Then they try to convince Krish’s mom. But the problem is Krish’s mother’s relatives who don’t quite like this. They say that Krish should not marry a Tamilian but end up agreeing with them when Ananya tries to help one of Krish’s cousin to get married and succeeds to do so. Krish has had a hatred on his father. He never shares his feelings or doesn’t share a harmonious bonding with him. Now as they have convinced both their parents they now try to introduce each other’s parents. They go to Goa. But this dream of theirs end as Ananya’s parents finds something fishy between Krish’s mom and him. Ananya’s family end up deciding that Krish and Ananya will not marry each other. But, at last, Krish’s father, who was like an enemy for Krish, helps Krish and Ananya to get married as he convinces Ananya’s family well.Now Krish realizes his Dad’s love for him. They really do very hard to convince each other’s parents and finally make it. It is narrated in a first person point of view in a humorous tone, often taking digs at both Tamil and Punjabi cultures . The novel ends with Ananya giving birth to twin boys. He says that the babies belong to a state called ‘India’; with a thought to end inequality.